Brittany's Blurb

So Thanksgiving break is over. It was probably one of my all time favorite Thanksgivings because…I GOT ENGAGED!! Saturday morning, after Thanksgiving, Rus took m e up to Lake Estes in Estes Park and asked me to marry him! I said yes and am officially engaged. It is such an exciting thing! I love him so much and can’t image being with anyone else. Its also been a lot of fun telling my friends and professors the news, everyone is really excited for us. We picked a day and budget so now the planning can begin! Even though its only been a couple of days, I love being engaged! However, I’m glad the wedding will be coming soon too!

Besides becoming engaged, Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. My parents have a small house in the mountains where Rus, my younger sister and her boyfriend, and I all went for the break. It was definitely crowded, but relaxing at the same time. We played a lot of games, watched movies, went on hikes, and slept in. It was also definitely needed before finals! It’s crazy to think that I only have one more semester of college! But I’m ready for this one to be over.

Looking back over the last year and looking forward to the next year just blows me away. I never thought I would be where I am or be going where I’m going. I’m so thankful that Rus is in my life and that God has worked things out the way he has. I never imagined things happening like they have and I wouldn’t want it any other way! I can’t wait to continue the journey!

Have a great day!

Posted in: on Monday, December 1, 2008 at at 7:10 PM 1 comments  

School is something I have always enjoyed. I was homeschooled when I was in elementary school and then went to a private school for junior high and high school and have always enjoyed school. The same is true even now. I really enjoy going to class, learning new things, applying information in the athletic training room and so on. BUT - all that being said, I’m ready for the semester to be over! Maybe its some senioritis, maybe it’s the fun plans I have for Christmas break, maybe it’s the stress of life, but I’m just ready. There are 5 weeks and 1 day (including finals week).

However, even though I’m anxious to be done, I have some fun projects coming up. Also, its when things get a little tough that you learn to be committed even when you don’t “feel” like it. You learn a lot of discipline, dedication, and determination (I should be a football coach! I could base my season off the 3 D’s!). While going to college you learn so much from the experience in and of itself; independent of what you study. I guess this is one of those times where you learn more than what is going on in class.

I hope you are all doing well! Have a great day!

Posted in: on Thursday, November 6, 2008 at at 7:30 PM 1 comments  

Good news! I passed my pharmacology test! Yay! I know you were all nervous, I was too. BUT I got an 80%. Which I am TOTALLY ok with. If I get a B in this class I will be very proud of myself. Very proud.

ALSO the Homecoming game that I had the good feeling about? Yeah, we won! 29 to 9. GO BEARS! I knew they would win! It was such a cold, cold game, but they did it. I am so proud of them! It was so exciting to be there and see them win! One of the coolest things about athletic training is that you really do win and lose with the team. Those guys are my friends, its good to see their hard work pay off. My best friend Janine was able to come up and go to the game with Rus and me. That was great. Both of them are amazing friends. The game was really cold and it was raining the entire time, but they knew it meant a lot to me to be at the game so they stayed. And froze. I seriously have the best friends in the world.

Homecoming weekend was great. In addition to the UNC foot ball bear’s victory, the UNC Athletic Training Society’s (UNCATS) float won first place in the Homecoming parade! Yeah, it was pretty great. We won first place for clubs and organizations (so we weren’t competing with the Greeks who had WAY cooler floats than ours). This is the first time that the UNCATS has had a float, so needless to say we’re very pleased with our success. (this picture is of me in the parade)

The whole event was also a little bittersweet because it is my last Homecoming as a Bear. It’s a little like graduating from high school, you would never want to stay but it is a little sad to move on to the next part of your life. It is also exciting to move on to the next part of your life. BUT, this Homecoming weekend was one of my first lasts of my undergrad. The year is flying by!

Have a great day!

Posted in: on Monday, October 20, 2008 at at 7:31 PM 1 comments  

I love Colorado in the fall. Actually, I love it all the time. BUT right now its fall and I LOVE fall! The leaves are changing, they crunch as I step on them while I walk across campus, and the night is crisp. My room was 61 degrees this morning when I woke up and even though it did make it hard to get out of bed, it’s so nice to not be hot! (My apartment does not have AC so this summer it was really warm) The down side is that it can get really cool…like this weekend. It is homecoming and I’m so excited about the game, but its suppose to be something like 54 degrees. That stinks. For the football guys is great because they don’t get to hot, but for all the poor fans, well, its an experience. Hopefully the weather doesn’t keep people away! They’ll be disappointed when they miss an amazing game! I’m so so SO excited about the game. I really think we’re going to win this one!


The last few games have been a little rough. I am studying athletic training and so I work very closely with the football team. Athletic training is unique in the fact that even though we don’t play the sport, we celebrate and morn when the team wins and loses as if we played. We’re there for the practices at 7:00am, we’re there on the field; we’re there with them the entire time. I think this is the weekend.



Ah, fall football. And Frisbee. Rus, who is an avid ultimate Frisbee player, took me out the other morning and taught me how to throw and catch. I did pretty well! I was impressed. I guess I’ll have to go back out and do it again to find out if it was a fluke or not. Sometimes I’ll do something once and do really well and then the next time…well, lets just say its not pretty. One time I went bowling and got a strike and then had gutter balls for the next 3 or 4 bowls (I’m not sure that’s what you call rolling the ball down the lane…). Consistency. Its not always there for me. But that’s ok!! Its fun to learn new things!

I hope you all are having a wonderful fall! Have a great day!

Posted in: on Thursday, October 9, 2008 at at 9:17 PM 0 comments  

I am sad to say that I am a procrastinator. Some of you may also be procrastinators. It’s a dilemma for me because on one hand I love the free time procrastination brings; however, I’m really starting to wonder if it is worth the stress the night before the test. My most recent procrastination episode was…well, last minute and stressful. It was studying for my first pharmacology test. Granted we are allowed to drop our worst test score, so there’s not an overwhelming amount of pressure on this first test, but who knows how much harder this class may get! If I blow this test and the class gets really, really hard, well, I’m toast! But yeah…30 pages of slides with 6 slides per page. I waited until about 10:00 the night before to start studying. We get our scores on Wednesday. I have no idea how I did.

BUT! On a brighter note, I had an awesome day in the athletic training room! (The test was on Friday so there’s no point in worrying about it anymore. No worrying will change my score.) I just started my rotation with my official senior sport: wrestling. I am SO excited! In the past the athletic training rotations have been 5 weeks long and you have 3 per semester. This year I had a first rotation (wrestling wasn’t in season yet) but starting this week I will be with them for the rest of the school year. I’m really starting to feel a sense of ownership and am looking forward to being part of the team. I do not have any brothers (well, I have a brother-in-law but we didn’t grow up together so its different) and boys are just so different from girls! Add to that the fact that wrestlers are unique. Its not something that I can put my finger on, but talk to any wrestler and they’ll agree with you (or the ones I’ve talked to agree with me!). But anyways, the moral of the story is that working with them today was great. It really helped boost my confidence in myself as well as make me excited for the season!

Yep. That’s where I am! I hope you guys are doing great! Have a great day!!

Posted in: on Monday, September 29, 2008 at at 7:10 PM 0 comments  

What I am referring to is my final senior year of college. I felt the need to specify FINAL because it’s my second senior year. It seems like it was just yesterday that my senior year of high school started and ended. Yet, at the same I have experienced so many things, met numerous people, gone places, changed and grown that high school seems like a lifetime ago. The way time passes is crazy! It flies, yet there has been so much that has happened its hard to believe that it all fit in 4 years.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my senior year of high school and how hard and stressful it was to pick a college. There were definitely things I wish I would have done differently like: (1) I would have started looking and applying to schools before January and February. Procrastinating did not help with the stress! (2) I would have applied for more scholarships. Free money is great. I could use more of it! (3) I can actually only really think of those two things right now…. BUT looking back on what I wished I would have done is changing the way I look at graduate school now. The biggest difference between the two is that when you go to college for an undergraduate degree it is ok to not know exactly what you want to do. I did, but a lot of people don’t. That’s fine. BUT when you go get a graduate degree, you have to know exactly what you want! I knew what I wanted in my undergrad, but I can’t decide what to do for my graduate degree! The good news is that there is time.

My athletic training class (there are 7 of us) had one of our grad students come talk during our GRE study time this week. It was good to hear about how she looked for schools and set up her criteria. For all you students looking at undergrad or grad schools, I think she had a really good plan. Make a list of what is important to you. It will be different for everyone! But find what matters the most to you and go from there. That’s my plan! I’ll let you know how it goes!
Have a great day!

Posted in: on Friday, September 12, 2008 at at 7:15 PM 0 comments  

As I get ready to start my senior year I really feel like the entire world is open to me. While that makes numerous opportunities available and excites me about exploring what it is I want to do, it is a bit overwhelming. Do I want to go to grad school? Where? What should I study? Do I want to get a job? Where? So many questions! Though I still have the rest of the year (or at least until Christmas to apply to grad programs), it takes a conscious effort to enjoy where I am and know that when its time for me to make a decision I’ll know what one to make. The good thing is that there are a lot of things that I know I don’t want to do, so I can rule those out!

For the past two weeks I had an internship at an orthapaedic center. It was a wonderful experience! I was able to spend a lot of time with the physical therapists which really solidified what I learned in my rehabilitation class as well as gave me knew views on many of the rehab protocols that we follow. The very first day I was there a patient who was 2 weeks out of an ACL reconstruction came in walking fine with no brace or crutches. That may not strike you as that impressive, but it was! Everything that I have learned says that at that point they should still be walking with crutches and wearing a knee brace. I think it is so beneficial to see different ways of doing things. It really helps you reason why you do things the way you do and whether or not there is a better way to do them. While I was there I also got to watch 4 shoulder surgeries and 5 knee surgeries. I have heard what goes on during an ACL reconstruction, but seeing it actually happen and seeing what goes on during rotator cuff repair really helped me understand why rehab is so painful and why it is so important to give the body time to heal.

After being in the clinic setting I don’t think that is what I want to pursue, but I would never have known that for sure without having had the internship. Not to mention all that I learned really made the time valuable. I guess the more you are able to experience different things, the more you can decipher what you enjoy and what you do not enjoy. During my senior year of high school I remember feeling so much pressure to have my life figured out. Deciding on a school and major was a pretty tough decision. I had no idea that it would be so much more difficult when graduating from college! But, even though I am in the midst of making these decisions and it is a challenge, it is also really exciting. I know that I am on the brink of the rest of my life and the end of this part of my life. This year is going to fly by. The world is waiting.

Have a great day!

Posted in: on Friday, August 22, 2008 at at 5:57 PM 0 comments  

I feel that my future as a model has officially commenced! Yesterday Aly and I had our first photo shoot as UNC Bloggers. Granted, it is a little different than a model shoot, but it’s a baby step in the right direction (or it would be if I actually wanted to be a model…). We had a blast! Flowers, benches, trees, dogs, bees, we used all of them in our pictures and, well, all I can say is watch out, Tyra, watch out!

But seriously, it was so much fun! Aly is hilarious to start out with and the photographer was great! He even let us take pictures of each other (so if the modeling thing doesn’t work out, I’ve got the whole photography experience to fall back on!). After taking the pictures we went back to his office and he showed us how he touches up people’s eyes to make them jump out at you. It is amazing what huge differences little details can make! It was so fascinating. There are so many things out there in the world that I wish I could do! For all of you artistic people, man, I’m jealous! Its just so cool how everyone has different gifts and abilities. Having the opportunity to see the photographer do what he does so well was a treat, similar to seeing an excellent musician perform or an athlete break records. Seeing people in their element always wows me.

It was wonderful to be outside on campus and take in all the beauty, but I was also amazed at how wonderful the staff here at UNC are. Of course, this was not my first realization of how wonderful they are, but it just really hit me. The people working for creative services, the photographer, even my own overseers are fabulous! I feel proud to go to a school where people care. It’s a good feeling. Gorgeous campus flowers, great photographer, and fabulous people, what more could I ask for? It was a good afternoon.

Have a great day!

Posted in: on Monday, August 4, 2008 at at 9:38 AM 1 comments  

Hey everyone! This is going to be super short, sorry! For the past week and this week I have had an internship so I literally have not been on a computer in over a week due to where I am staying. But, the internship is rocking and I can't wait to share some of my experiences with you. In the next couple of days (if some computer problems are overcome) I should be able to post a blog. Thanks for your time, man has the past week has gone fast! Talk to you soon.

Have a great day!

Posted in: on Monday, July 28, 2008 at at 11:30 PM 0 comments  

Throughout this entire summer there is one e-mail that I have been impatiently waiting for. Senior sport assignments. As an athletic training senior we, my classmates and I, are assigned to a sport and work with that sport for their entire season rather than having 5 week rotations. Well, today was the day. I opened my inbox and there it was. Naturally, my computer decided to take its pretty time to download the file but it is official. I am a senior athletic training student with a senior sport. The sport that I have been assigned is one that I requested so I’m really excited and nervous to start! It really makes the upcoming year seem so close at hand and real!

Getting ready for each year has been different. Last summer I was in Chicago and came back one week before school started. I spent that week working with the football team during two-a-days. Going into the school year I felt tired, but this year I’m already super energized and excited. I’m going to need to brush up on some of my injury evaluations and rehabilitation techniques. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be studying something I did not enjoy! Choosing a major can be so intimidating. It worked out well for me because I knew what I was passionate about and what my strengths were. Athletic training just fit.

Four years ago I dreamed of this day (as well as many others). Here it is. I have had a blast being in college and am so glad that I have one more year! Enjoy where you are, people, enjoy where you are. Even if its not ideal it will be over before you realize! All we can do is look forward to tomorrow and enjoy today. I look forward to sharing with you guys the ups and downs of this next year. Talk to you soon!

Have a great day!

Posted in: on Monday, July 14, 2008 at at 12:51 PM 0 comments  

One of the little joys of life that I really look forward to is getting a new journal. It only happens every few years (I’m not as dedicated to recording my life as some), but when it does, it rocks! Picking out the journal is half the fun. There are so many choices; I remember choosing the journal that I have now. Initially I thought it was ugly, but when I saw that is was made in Spain I got it because I was an exchange student there for a month while in high school. Even now I think it’s not the prettiest, but whenever I see the “Made in Spain” label all kinds of good memories come back. The first time I open a new journal my excitement level totally goes up. There is an empty book that soon will start to be filled by all kinds of new adventures that I have no idea are going to happen! That is a little like how I feel right now.

Starting this blog is exciting because currently there are no blogs on my page, but soon there will be blogs talking about experiences that I have no clue about! I’m excited to share them with you. If you are a prospective student, I hope that you can learn from my experiences and also learn about what a great school UNC is. If you are a current student, maybe you can relate to my experiences and hopefully get a laugh out of some (prospective, you guys can laugh too)! Either way, I hope you guys will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.

Like my bio says, I am a second year senior majoring in Sport and Exercise Science with an emphasis in Athletic Training and a double minor in nutrition and Spanish. My first year of college I went to a small liberal arts college in Sterling, Kansas; it was a great school and a wonderful experience but it wasn’t where I was supposed to be for the rest of my college years. So, I transferred to UNC. The primary reason I chose UNC was because we have an amazing athletic training program; it was and still is important to me to go to a school with a reputable program. However, once I got to school I fell in love with everything else that UNC has to offer like a diverse campus, medium size, and great professors that want to help you succeed.

I hope you feel like you know me a little more and I hope I can get to know you too. Here we go!

Have a great day!

Posted in: on Monday, July 7, 2008 at at 3:58 PM 1 comments